Q3 2021
PitchBook Analyst Note: Impact Funds by Reason and Region
July 27, 2021
PitchBook to tag funds to specific impact interests
While impact investment is commanding more attention and capital than ever, it hasn’t been easy for LPs and GPs with specific targets in mind to find each other. Who are the primary players in energy? In diversity & inclusion? How big are those spaces, and where are the funds investing in those initiatives?
Adopting the IRIS+ framework, this analyst note breaks impact fund data down to discover what asset classes, global regions, and specific impact categories are closing the most impact-focused funds and luring the most capital commitments to the space. A couple of insights from the report include:
This note discusses only the first step PitchBook has taken to improve datasets around impact funds: tagging funds to their correct focus areas. Impact investors are invited to write to survey@pitchbook.com to find out how they are being reflected and update their profiles if the data can be improved.
While impact investment is commanding more attention and capital than ever, it hasn’t been easy for LPs and GPs with specific targets in mind to find each other. Who are the primary players in energy? In diversity & inclusion? How big are those spaces, and where are the funds investing in those initiatives?
Adopting the IRIS+ framework, this analyst note breaks impact fund data down to discover what asset classes, global regions, and specific impact categories are closing the most impact-focused funds and luring the most capital commitments to the space. A couple of insights from the report include:
- We estimate that there is $286 billion in AUM targeting impact funds as of December 31, 2020, and PitchBook has data on the space going back as far as 1984.
- Compared to the overall private fund universe, capital raised for impact initiatives overall has been more concentrated in Europe and energy, while venture represents a higher proportion of impact vehicles closed.
This note discusses only the first step PitchBook has taken to improve datasets around impact funds: tagging funds to their correct focus areas. Impact investors are invited to write to survey@pitchbook.com to find out how they are being reflected and update their profiles if the data can be improved.